The Future of Fossil Fuels

Introduction

Fossil fuels have evolved into becoming the lifeline of all economies in the world, be they the developed or the developing economies (IER, 2012:1). The various types of fossil fuels include peat, coke, coal, petroleum, and natural gas. The dependence on use of these fossil fuels is evident in all sectors of the economy, from an industrial power source, electric power generation, source of energy for power machines and vehicles, to their use in home heating systems. The reasons for the increased dependence on these fuels are their abundance in availability, their versatility such that they can be used in various areas of application to provide energy and lastly the abundant use of technology that is only tailor made for use of fossil fuels (Girard, 2010:147).

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However, the main challenge facing the use of fossil fuels is their nature as a non-renewable source of energy. Studies have revealed that their over exploitation will eventually lead to the depletion of the worldwide reserves especially of crude petroleum (IER, 2012:1). Apart from the decreasing stocks, the negative effects on the environment caused by the emissions that result from their combustion has made it become a priority of many nations and international conventions to reduce their global consumption and use alternative sources. Among the alternative sources that are proposed are those sources that are renewable and are viable to current technology (Coelho, 2005:7-9). This essay outlines the worldwide consumption levels, the products of fossil fuel combustion, and their effects on the environment and looks into current developments of renewable sources. This paper is therefore of the opinion that fossil fuels due to their very nature have no future and that it is high time for the development of renewable energy sources.

Worldwide consumption and production levels

Among all the energy sources in the world, fossil fuels are the most widely used with petroleum being the most used energy resource in the world. Statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) (2011:6) show that the worldwide Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) figures of 1973 had petroleum consumption at 46.0% of the 6111 Mtoe (million tons of energy) with the 2009 percentage at 32.8% of 12150 Mtoe. The worldwide production of crude in 2010 stood at 3973 Mt (Million tons) with the top three producers being Russian Federation at 12.6%, Saudi Arabia at 11.9% and USA at 8.5%. The consumption levels are led by the most industrialized nations with the top three being USA, China and Japan respectively (IEA, 2011:11)

The second most consumed fossil fuel is coal. According to IEA statistics (2011:6), in 1973 it constituted 24.6% and 2009 at 27.2% for 6111Mtoe and 12150Mtoe respectively. The 2010 data of production stood at 6186 Mt for hard coal and 1043Mt for brown coal. The top three producers were China, USA and India. In terms of consumption, China leads the pack followed by USA and Japan at third (IEA, 2011:15). The third fossil fuel, natural gas, in 1973 had a global consumption of 16.0% of 6111Mtoe and 20.9% of 12150Mtoe (IEA, 2011:6). Global production stood at 3282 bcm (billion cubic meters) in 2010, with the top three producers being Russia at 19.4%, USA at 18.7 and Canada at 4.9% (2011:13).

The major sectors that utilized fossil fuels for energy are motor vehicles, industrial use, electrical power generation and heating systems. The use of petroleum in motor vehicles is the largest consumer of crude, followed by electric generation (IER, 2012:1). Coal is almost exclusively used in heating purposes in industry and power generation, although a small percentage is also used for home heating during the winter. Natural gas is used in providing energy for cooking, industrial heating and can also be used for power generation. The statistics for use of these fossil fuels by each country depends on the industrial requirements of the various nations and the abundance of a particular resource in a country. For instance, America leads in motor vehicle petroleum due to the large number of vehicles on American roads; China on the other hand leads in the use of coal combustion for power generation due to its abundant coal reserves and consumption.

Products of combustion

The products of fossil fuel combustion are highly dependent on the process that is used for combustion, chemical additives and the chemical composition of the fuel (Kotz et al, 2009:963). Fossil fuels are organic compounds which are mainly composed of Carbon,

Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur with varying composition of these elements. The most simple of the fossil fuels in terms of composition is natural gas which is composed of mainly the simple hydrocarbon gases of methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6) and other simple alkenes such as ethylene (C2H4). Crude oil is normally composed of high molecular hydrocarbons of both straight and branched chains. Depending on its formation, crude may contain varying amounts of oxy-carbon compounds and other aromatic and cyclic compounds containing nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur in their structure (Girard, 2010:277). Coal on the other hand contains pure carbon in varying amounts and a host of different aromatic and cyclic compounds (IER, 2012:1).

The basic product of fossil fuel combustion is the production of carbon dioxide in instances of complete combustion and carbon monoxide in incomplete combustion.

Fossil fuel + Oxygen + Heat

Carbon dioxide / Carbon monoxide + Water

Due to the simplicity of composition, natural gas normally is the best fossil fuel in terms of products of combustion when it undergoes complete combustion as it produces just carbon dioxide and water vapor (Kotz, Treichel & Townsend 2009:962). Apart from these products, in cases of petroleum combustion, other by-products such as sulfur dioxide results when high sulfur fuel is used and organometallic products of lead are expelled through the exhaust when leaded fuels are used. The other product of petroleum combustion is soot, which is particulate carbon that is deposited or expelled from the exhaust system of vehicles. Coal combustion is among the most polluting of industrial processes. Ever since the times of industrial revolution in Europe, soot and stalk emissions from coal plants and industry have been notorious for filling the atmosphere with grey and black smog which greatly compromises air quality and reduced visibility (Girard, 2010:151).

Environmental and health impacts

The environmental impacts of fossil combustion can be traced to the harmful by-products of their combustion. The resulting carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that together with other hydrocarbons like methane have been credited with the greenhouse phenomenon and the issues of global warming (Pieprzyk Kortluke & Hilje 2009:36). Burning of leaded fuels was responsible for heavy metal poisoning by lead which had adverse effects on the mental development on unborn children among other negative health effects. Poor or ineffective refining of crude results in fuels containing high sulfur being used be vehicles and industries; the result of this has been the formation of acid rain in places were emissions are high enough. The particulates that arise from stalk emissions have been linked with causing eye problems and respiratory tract infections which eventually may lead to individuals to develop cancer. Due to such effects coupled with dwindling global reserves especially of petroleum, it is no wonder fossil fuels are considered to having no future in an increasingly environmental conscious world, and hence the need for establishment of renewable sources that are environmentally friendly. Renewable sources

Due to the limitations of current mass technologies, even though we need to stop the use of fossil fuels, any form of renewable energy alternatives has to be adoptive in nature. In as much as the notion of using hydrogen to power our vehicles sounds enticing in terms of environmental conservation, we have to settle for current and more realistic alternatives. One of such an alternative is the use of non-fossil fuels such as ethanol and biomass (Coelho, 2005:13).

Another viable alternative is the use of the simpler alternative of biogas in place of natural gas. True, natural gas is not as hazardous to the environment as coal and petroleum, but its composition is much more complex in terms of impurities than that of biogas (Pieprzyk et al, 2009:45).

The viability of a renewable resource like ethanol is such that using it as an additive to petroleum is potent enough to increase the octane number of the fuel, just like the addition of lead, without the adverse environmental impacts. Biomass is a viable renewable energy source because unlike fossil fuels which take millions of years to form and once depleted cannot be renewed, biomass can be renewed annually from plant materials such as corn or continually supplied from the recycling of organic wastes to produce biodiesel (Pieprzyk et al, 2009:47).

Conclusion

The increased global dependence of fossil fuels despite their health and environmental impacts is something that has to be seriously addressed. The severity of these negative impacts arises from technological inadequacies that have not universally addressed the by-products of fuel combustion. The fact that these fuel sources are not renewable should serve to show that in the long run fossil fuels are dead, and global efforts of finding replacement sources that are renewable and much more sustainable so as to meet the increasing global demand have to be encouraged.